People who often drink wine must be very familiar with wine labels and corks, because we can know a lot about wine by reading wine labels and observing wine corks. But for wine bottles, many drinkers don’t pay much attention, but they don’t know that wine bottles also have many unknown secrets.
1. The origin of wine bottles
Many people may be curious, why most wines are bottled in glass bottles, and rarely in iron cans or plastic bottles?
Wine first appeared in 6000 BC, when neither glass nor iron making technology was developed, let alone plastic. At that time, most wines were mainly packed in ceramic jars. Around 3000 BC, glass products began to appear, and at this time, some high-end wine glasses began to be made of glass. Compared with the original porcelain wine glasses, glass wine glasses can give wine a better taste. But the wine bottles are still stored in ceramic jars. Because the level of glass production was not high at that time, the glass bottles made were very fragile, which was not convenient for the transportation and storage of wine. In the 17th century, an important invention appeared – coal-fired furnace. This technology greatly increased the temperature when making glass, allowing people to make thicker glass. At the same time, with the appearance of oak corks at that time, glass bottles successfully replaced the previous ceramic jars. To this day, glass bottles have not been replaced by iron cans or plastic bottles. First, it is due to historical and traditional factors; second, it is because glass bottles are extremely stable and will not affect the quality of wine; third, glass bottles and oak corks can be perfectly integrated to provide wine with the charm of aging in bottles.
2. Characteristics of wine bottles
Most wine lovers can tell the characteristics of wine bottles: red wine bottles are green, white wine bottles are transparent, the capacity is 750 ml, and there are grooves at the bottom.
First, let’s look at the color of the wine bottle. As early as the 17th century, the color of wine bottles was green. This was limited by the bottle-making process at the time. The wine bottles contained many impurities, so the wine bottles were green. Later, people found that dark green wine bottles helped protect the wine in the bottle from the influence of light and helped the wine age, so most wine bottles were made dark green. White wine and rosé wine are usually packaged in transparent wine bottles, hoping to show the colors of white wine and rosé wine to consumers, which can give people a more refreshing feeling.
Secondly, the capacity of wine bottles is composed of many factors. One of the reasons is still from the 17th century, when bottle making was done manually and relied on glass-blowers. Influenced by the lung capacity of glass-blowers, the size of wine bottles at that time was between 600-800 ml. The second reason is the birth of standard-sized oak barrels: the small oak barrels for shipping were established at 225 liters at that time, so the European Union set the capacity of wine bottles at 750 ml in the 20th century. Such a small oak barrel can just hold 300 bottles of wine and 24 boxes. Another reason is that some people think that 750 ml can pour 15 glasses of 50 ml wine, which is suitable for a family to drink at a meal.
Although most wine bottles are 750 ml, there are now wine bottles of various capacities.
Finally, the grooves at the bottom of the bottle are often mythical by many people, who believe that the deeper the grooves at the bottom, the higher the quality of the wine. In fact, the depth of the grooves at the bottom is not necessarily related to the quality of the wine. Some wine bottles are designed with grooves to allow the sediment to be concentrated around the bottle, which is convenient for removal when decanting. With the improvement of modern winemaking technology, the wine dregs can be directly filtered out during the winemaking process, so there is no need for grooves to remove the sediment. In addition to this reason, the grooves at the bottom can facilitate the storage of wine. If the center of the bottom of the wine bottle is protruding, it will be difficult to put the bottle steady. But with the improvement of modern bottle making technology, this problem has also been solved, so the grooves at the bottom of the wine bottle are not necessarily related to the quality. Many wineries still keep the grooves at the bottom more to maintain tradition.
3. Different wine bottles
Careful wine lovers may find that Burgundy bottles are completely different from Bordeaux bottles. In fact, there are many other types of wine bottles besides Burgundy bottles and Bordeaux bottles.
1. Bordeaux Bottle
The standard Bordeaux bottle has the same width from top to bottom, with a distinct shoulder, which can be used to remove sediment from the wine. This bottle looks serious and dignified, like a business elite. Wines in many parts of the world are made in Bordeaux bottles.
2. Burgundy Bottle
The bottom is columnar, and the shoulder is an elegant curve, like a graceful lady.
3. Chateauneuf du Pape Bottle
Similar to the Burgundy bottle, it is slightly thinner and taller than the Burgundy bottle. The bottle is printed with “Chateauneuf du Pape”, the Pope’s hat and the double keys of St. Peter. The bottle is like a devout Christian.
Chateauneuf du Pape Bottle; Image source: Brotte
4. Champagne Bottle
Similar to the Burgundy bottle, but the top of the bottle has a crown cap seal for secondary fermentation in the bottle.
5. Provence Bottle
It is most appropriate to describe the Provence bottle as a beautiful girl with an “S”-shaped figure.
6. Alsace Bottle
The shoulder of the Alsace bottle is also an elegant curve, but it is more slender than the Burgundy bottle, like a tall girl. In addition to Alsace, most German wine bottles also use this style.
7. Chianti Bottle
Chianti bottles were originally big-bellied bottles, like a full and strong man. But in recent years, Chianti has increasingly tended to use Bordeaux bottles.
Knowing this, you may be able to roughly guess the origin of a wine without looking at the label.
Post time: Jul-05-2024